One of our agents, Mike Elrod, is a hiking enthusiast. He has hiked most every trail around Lake Martin. I have asked him to share with you. This will be a two-parter and continued later. I hope you enjoy it.- SP
Hi, I’m Mike Elrod, a new agent at Lake Breeze at Lake Martin. Recently, Shelby posted an article about the hiking trails around Lake Martin. I told her how much I enjoyed them (the trails) and she asked me to expand on them if I would. I took the bait, so here goes.
I hope to do this as a multiple part series, since I have not yet walked all the trails available around Lake Martin. Let’s start with the Cherokee Ridge Alpine Trail at the Overlook, near the dam. I will also touch on some of the trails in the Forever Wild track of land next to Yates Lake.
To start with, I want to explain my rating system. It isn’t scientific by any means. When our family does anything together, we rate what we do on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the greatest. Meals, vacations, hikes, whatever it is. Yes, we have had vacations rated at a 2 but we have also had 10’s!
Our hiking trips are rated the same way. We consider everything: beauty, fun, difficulty, etc. Since hiking around Lake Martin is always beautiful (10’s are a given!) we mainly base our Lake Martin hike ratings on difficulty.
We rate the overall difficulty of the Cherokee Ridge Alpine Trail hike a four.
The trails are easy to walk and well maintained. But you have to remember, you will be going down to the Lake and back up multiple times before you finish. It isn’t a flat walk like you have in your neighborhood, but it will be much prettier. Walking three miles in an hour in your neighborhood might take you two hours to walk here. There is always something to stop and look at, always. You might even spot an eagle!
The complete trail is seven miles long, broken down into the Chimney Rock Trail, Kowaliga Bay Trail and the Cherokee South Loop Trail. You might not want to try to do all three trails in one day….start slow at first.
Chimney Rock seems to be the most popular. I have actually seen buses parked at the beginning of the trails so I am obviously not the only one to like them. We’ll talk more about these trails later. For more information, look up the Cherokee Ridge Alpine Trail Association. They are a great source.
P.S. Don’t forget your dogs. They will love you for it!
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Don’t you want to be closer to such beauty and fun?
I’ve read that just walking, simply walking, is a proven way to improve your health, maybe make you smarter, relieve stress and depression, and the price is affordable.
If you think now is the time to look into a lifestyle change, come talk to us. We know and love the Lake and would be happy to share with you just how special it is. There truly is something for everyone. Give us a call and let’s make a plan.
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